In October of 1972, one of the plaintiff organizations, Inmates Action Council (hereinafter referred to as "IAC"), was concerned with the fact that inmates were not receiving notice of continuance dates when trials or hearings were postponed. IAC, with the approval of defendant Aytch and in conjunction with staff personnel from the Community Legal Services organization (hereinafter referred to as "CLS"), documented the severity of the problem by surveying the inmate population. After completing the survey, two members of the CLS staff, authorized to act as legal counsel for IAC, asked the defendant for permission to hold a press conference so that they might inform the public of the problem. Superintendent Aytch denied this request after learning that the Philadelphia Voluntary Defender office, the organization representing many of the inmates in their pending criminal trials, refused to send a representative to the conference. The defendant argues that he was attempting to protect the inmates from prejudicing their pending criminal cases.
*fn2"
However, it also appears that the defendant was concerned about the possibility that inmates' public criticism of the Defender Association might result in a clash between his office and the Voluntary Defender.

Ignoring the Superintendent's refusal, members of the plaintiff class and their CLS representatives, without informing the defendant, proceeded to schedule a press conference on April 4, 1973. When the press arrived, they were refused access to the prison. Although the media representatives were not anticipated visitors, Superintendent Aytch met with them at the Detention Center, explained that the inmates and their CLS representatives were not authorized to call the press conference, and attempted to arrange interviews between the reporters and individual inmates. Charles Stone, a reporter from the Philadelphia Daily News, was permitted to interview two inmates at the House of Detention about their problems with parole practices. George Straight, another reporter present on that date, stated in his affidavit that he was refused permission to interview inmate Charles Cobbs because defendant Aytch "could not make proper arrangements then." Although the record does not explicitly clarify the reasons for the disparate treatment, it does appear that Cobb was an inmate at Holmesburg Prison and that greater advance notice may have been required at that institution.

Apparently, the results of the continuance and probation surveys were never communicated to the proper government agencies. The only information released was a seven-page press release disseminated to the media on April 4, 1973. The first four pages of the document contained a summary of the probation problem and the remaining three pages gave specific examples of the procedure, as applied to 21 inmates. The representatives of CLS informed the Court that their clients had instructed them that their complaints should be transmitted through the media, or not at all. No evidence in the record suggests that any of the survey information was presented to the Voluntary Defender, probation officials or defendant Aytch.

The Philadelphia Prison System has no written regulations or standard policy regarding inmate press conferences or individual interviews with reporters. All press contacts with inmates must first be approved by Superintendent Aytch. Defendant Aytch has the discretionary power to grant all interview requests. However, he has a tacit understanding with the Board of Trustees of the Prison System, the Commissioner of Public Welfare, and the City Solicitor, that he will consult with them before taking any major action. If a request for an interview is denied, there is no procedure for obtaining an administrative hearing to review the decision.

In processing any request, the Superintendent attempts to gauge both the "climate" or tension level of the institution involved and the purpose or subject matter of the interview. If the tension level in the prison is high, or if the subject matter of the interview touches on a sensitive issue, the Superintendent might decide that there is a "security risk" in allowing the interview. In attempting to clarify what factual setting might constitute a "security risk," Defendant Aytch stated that he might have to postpone or refuse an interview request if the substance of the interview were to deal with a charge that a group of white guards had beaten up a black inmate. Aytch also stated that interviews dealing with "religious or racial" issues might be "explosive" and might have to be censored. In addition, he stated that he would feel responsible for the safety of any reporter within the prison walls and pointed to a recent incident where a social worker was attacked by an inmate.

The Superintendent's preoccupation with security is well-founded. Between January 1, 1973 and September 25, 1973, there were numerous disturbances within the correctional institutions, including (1) 113 cases of assault, near riots, and other incidents requiring police intervention; (2) a homicide of a Holmesburg Prison resident on August 19, 1973; (3) the murder of both the warden and deputy warden of Holmesburg Prison on May 31, 1973; and (4) approximately 40 "extraordinary occurrences," including suicides, murders, escapes, etc., which are not included in the "incidents" reported in (1) above.

Read together, the two decisions clearly establish the following principles: (1) representatives of the press have no greater right of access to prison inmates than do members of the general public, and (2) regulations barring prisoners from being interviewed by the press are constitutionally valid, so long as (a) there is no differentiation based upon the contents of the communication, and (b) the prisoners are not denied reasonable access to the press by alternative means (e.g., mail, and communications by way of their relatives and attorneys).

It is clear in the present case that press interviews with individual inmates are permitted. The principal issue, plaintiffs' claimed right to convene group press conferences, can no longer be seriously asserted, in view of Pell and Saxbe. Indeed, those decisions would be wholly dispositive of this litigation, were it not for the presence, in this case, of two factors which were not involved in either of the cited cases. Here, a substantial proportion of the inmates seeking relief are pretrial detainees, rather than sentenced prisoners; and we are dealing, not with written regulations, but with "rule of thumb" applications of unwritten policies which, at least arguably, may vary in accordance with the topic to be discussed by the prisoners. Thus, it is necessary for this Court to decide whether, in the light of Pell and Saxbe, the existing policies in the Philadelphia Prison System regarding press interviews may constitutionally be applied to pretrial detainees, and whether there is need for judicial intervention to insure that there will be no discriminatory treatment based upon the content of the prospective interview.

It is unnecessary in the present case to attempt to define the limits of the restrictions which may properly be imposed upon unsentenced prisoners, or the extent (if any) to which additional restrictions upon unsentenced prisoners may be justified by reason of their incarceration in the same institution with sentenced prisoners. In the Philadelphia Prison System, individual press interviews are permitted, irrespective of whether the inmate is a pretrial detainee or a sentenced convict. And, while the Pell and Saxbe decisions were not concerned with pretrial detainees, I am entirely satisfied that the Supreme Court would not strike down a restriction against group press conferences by inmates even though unsentenced. The "prison security" rationale may be less compelling in the case of unsentenced detainees, but it surely retains enough force to justify the very slight restriction upon First Amendment rights represented by proscription of group press conferences.

Our website includes the main text of the court's opinion but does not include the
docket number, case citation or footnotes. Upon purchase, docket numbers and/or
citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a legal proceeding.
Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Official citation and/or docket number and footnotes (if any) for this case available with purchase.